Netanyahu speech halted as rocket intercepted

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was bundled off the stage of an election rally on Wednesday after sirens rang out, warning of a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. It happened in the southern town of Ashkelon, just a few kilometres away from Gaza. Israeli authorities confirmed that a rocket had been fired, but said its Iron Dome missile defence system had intercepted it. There were no reports of casualties and no Palestinian group admitted responsibility.

Video showed Netanyahu being hustled off the stage and taken to a shelter as he was campaigning hours before the primaries of his Likud party. Such sporadic launches of rockets and ensuing Israeli airstrikes have happened frequently despite an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that ended two days of fighting in November.